opular
in traditional Romanian music, the panpipe is used by
lautaris, or professional musicians, to play dance pieces and
other selections. The instruments shown here were made in Canada by Valeriu Apan,
known for his interpretation of popular Romanian and Western
music.

The tilinca is one of the many traditional Romanian flutes. It is hard to
imagine a simpler instrument: it consists of a copper tube which is
open at both ends and which has no finger holes. Melodies are produced
by altering the force of the breath while alternately opening and closing
the embouchure. The tilinca accompanies songs and dances and is also played
as a solo instrument.

Romanian musician Valeriu Apan settled in the Edmonton area after coming
to Canada in 1980 to give a series of concerts. He subsequently became the
director and arranger of the Romanian Choral Group of Edmonton. Apan
was introduced to the folk music of his native country at the age of twelve
by an uncle who taught him to play the traditional music of Romanian shepherds.
He entered the Cluj conservatory, where he studied musicology and
composition, and learned to play the piano and violin. He developed
a keen interest in the panpipe at this time. But, as the only such
instruments on the market were mass-produced and of poor quality, Valeriu
Apan began to make his own panpipes, producing fifty of them by 1984.